Railway-rail.



Y -'.e. P. SMITH. v

RAILWAY RAIL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1910.

3 7 4 Zbtmaofef: Q Q s ameM/koz 6% r I (ieomge, mfch UNITED @TATlfdGEORGE P. SMITH, or new roan, n. "r.

RAILWAY-BAIL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon P. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Rails, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates more particularly to a class of rails for railwaytracks which are adapted to be connected without the employment offish-plates, bolts and nuts.

My invention has for its object primarily to provide a rail havingopposite ends adapted to interlock with the opposed ends of similaradjoining rails in a manner so as to remain firmly connected whereby atrack for railways, street car lines, and other purposes may be laidwith facility and which will permit a ready exchange of one or more ofthe rails when damaged or worn thereby avoiding delay to trafiic andsaving time and labor in repairing the track when necessary.

Another advantage attained by my invention is the elimination of allseparate means for connecting the rails together, such as fish-plates,bolts, or nuts, as used at present for securing the abutting ends ofrailway rails in ordinary use, thus overcoming the objections to theemployment of such ieans which soon become so loose and insecure as tooften endanger the lives of passengers of the cars traveling upon thetracks.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a form of railwhereby a plurality of the same may be so laid in interlocked engagementthat tracks having unusual smooth and even surface bearing are produced,thus serving to prevent all pounding of the wheel flanges of the carswhen passing from one rail to the other, and which allows for properexpansion or contraction of the rails during changes of temperature ofthe atmosphere.

My invention consists furthermore in certain other novel constructions,combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, and will then be more particularly pointed outin theclaims at the end of this description, in which similar characters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my railway railshowing how the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 26, 1918.

Patented Mar. 28, 1%11. Eerial No. 583,873.

abutting ends of two ails are fitted together for interlockingengagement. F 2 is a perspective view of the improved rail which iscentrally broken away. l 3 is an end elevation of the railway rail, andF 4% is another end elevation thereof.

A railway rail, as 10, constructed accord ing to my invention has theusual form of body 11 consisting of a base flange 12, a web 155, and ahead 14- having shoulders 15 and 16 upon the underside of the lateraledges thereof which are provided by forming said head of greater widththan the web 13. One end, as 17, of the head 1 1 of the rail extends forsome distance beyond the base flange 12 and web 13, and said end isslotted lengthwise thereof, as at 18. The slot 18 is substantiallyrectangular and one of its ends communicates with an approximatelyif-shaped notch 19 provided in the vertical face of the projectingportion 1'? of the head 14. In contact with each face of the web 18 andbetween the top face of the base flange 12 and the shoulder 15 and 16 ofthe projecting end 17 as well as a part of the head 14 of the body 11,is provided a member or arm 20 and 21 of a locking element 22, and saidmembers or arms 20 and 21 may be formed integral with, or madeseparately of the body 11, and connected thereto. As shown, the arms 20and 21 extend for some distance beyond the projecting end 17 of the head14 and are disposed in parallel arrangement in alinement with each faceof the web 13 so as to form a space or channel therebetween. Thelengthwise upper part of each of the free portions of the arms 20 and 21is cut away or reduced to provide a flange, as 2% and 25, adapted to beguided in the grooves or slots of a corresponding adjoining rail as willbe hereinafter more fully explained. At the opposite end of the rail 10is provided a substantially V- shaped tongue 26 .which is adapted tosnugly fit in the Y-shaped recess of the projecting portion 17 of anadjoining rail in laying a track, and said tongue is formed by taperingor similarly beveling the lateral edges :28 of the head 14c so as toreduce the end of said head and provide a substantially rectangularstraight arm 29 projecting from the apex of the tapered portion.

At the edge of each of the shoulders 15 and 16 adjacent to the taperededges 28 of the head 14- is provided a depending flange, as at 30 and31, and between said flanges and the opposed faces of the web 13 aregrooves or slots 32 and 33 for reception of the flanges 24 and 25 of themembers or arms 20 and. 21 of the locking element 22.

Upon the opposed top surface of the base flange 12 at the Yshaped tongueof the rail are provided upwardly projecting ribs or flanges 34 and 35,and between said flanges and the opposed faces of the web 13 are groovesor slots 36 and 37.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, in joining two rails of my improved type theY-shaped tongue 26 of one rail is guided in the space or channel 23 ofthe abutting rail and the arms 20 and 21 of said abutting rail aredirected in the grooves or slots 36 and 37 of the first rail. As onerail is forced toward the other rail the Y-shaped tongue 26 is passedinto the Y-shaped notch 19 of the second rail and in turn the flanges24; and 25 are received by the grooves 32 and 33 of the first rail.Obviously by this arrangement the ends of any number of the rails 10 maybe interlocked and securely held against displacement as well asproviding a smooth, even surface bearing upon the top of the head 13especially at all joints of the rails whereby pounding of the car wheelsrunning thereover will be obviated.

In the foregoing description I have embodied the preferred form of myinvention, but I do not wish to be understood as li1niting myselfthereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein withoutcleparting from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages ofthis invention, therefore I reserve to myself the right to make suchchanges as fairly fall within the scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a railway rail having a base flange and a web; ahead formed upon the web and of greater width than said web so as to provide shoulders upon the lateral undersides thereof, said head having asubstantially Y- shaped recess formed in one of its ends; a

substantially Y-shaped tongue formed upon the opposite end of said head;a depending flange formed upon the outer edge of each of the shouldersof the head adjacent to the Y- shaped tongue whereby a groove isprovided between each flange and the opposed face of the web; and anupwardly projecting rib provided upon the top surface of each baseflange at the Y-shaped tongue end of the rail whereby a groove isprovided between each rib and the opposed surface of said web.

2. In a railway rail having a base flange and a web; a head formed uponthe web and of greater width than said web so as to provide shouldersupon the lateral undersides thereof, said head having a substantially Y-shaped tongue formed upon the opposite end of said head; a lockingelement consisting of two spaced apart parallel arranged members, formedupon the opposed surfaces of the web of the rail under the Y-shapedrecessed end and projecting for some distance beyond said end onalinement with the web; a depending flange formed upon the outer edge ofeach of the shoulders of the head adjacent to the Y-shaped tonguewhereby a groove is provided between each flange and the opposed face ofthe web; and an upwardly projecting rib provided upon the top surface ofeach base flange at the Y-shaped tongue end of the rail whereby a grooveis provided between each rib and the opposed surface of said web.

3. In a railway rail having a base flange and a web; a head formed uponthe web and of greater width than said web so as to provide shouldersupon the lateral undersides thereof, said head having one of its endsprojecting beyond the web and base flange and having a substantiallyrectangular slot formed lengthwise thereof; a locking element consistingof two spaced apart parallel arranged members, formed upon the opposedsurfaces of the web of the rail and extending for some distance beyondthe slotted end in alinement with the web; a substantially rectangulartongue formed upon the opposite end of the head of the rail and adaptedto enter the rectangular slot when said end of the rail is guidedbetween said spaced apart members of a similarly constructed rail.

at. I11 a railway rail having a base flange and a web; a head formedupon the web and of greater width than said web so asto provideshoulders upon the lateral undersides thereof, said head having one ofits ends projecting beyond the web and base flange and having asubstantially rectangular slot formed lengthwise thereof and acommunieating V-shaped notch in the end of said projecting end; twospaced apart parallel arranged arms, having one end of each formed uponthe opposed surfaces of the web of the rail and extending for somedistance beyond the V-shaped notched end and in alinement with the web;similar tapering edges provided at the opposite portion of the head ofthe rail and having a substantially rectangular projecting arm adaptedto enter the V-shaped notch and the rectangular slot when said end ofthe 'rail is guided between said ,spaced apart arms of a similarlyconstructed rail.

5. In a railway rail having a base flange and a web; a head formed uponthe web and of greater width than said web so as to provide shouldersupon the lateral undersides thereof; said head having one of its endsprojecting beyond the web and base flange and having a substantiallyrectangular slot formed lengthwise thereof and a communicating \l-shapednotch in the end of said projecting end; two spaced apart parallelarranged arms having one end of each formed upon the opposed surfaces ofthe web of the rail and extending for some distance beyond the V-shapednotched end and in alinement with the web; similar tapering edgesprovided at the opposite portion of the head and having a substantiallyrectangular arm; a depending flange formed upon the outer edge of eachof the shoulders of the head adjacent to said tapered portion whereby agroove is provided between each flange arid the opposed face of the web;and an upwardly projecting rib provided upon 15 the top surface of eachbase flange at the rectangular projecting arm end of the rail whereby agroove is provided between each rib and the opposed surface of said web.

This specification signed and witnessed 20 this twenty first day ofSeptember A. D.

GEORGE P. SMITH. Witnesses Boer. B. ABBOTT, S. SAHNER.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

